HITECH’s Meaningful Use Stage 2 requirements started their year-plus journey through federal advisory committees, regulation writers, public comment and countless revisions after a draft set of recommendations were floated for discussion at this month’s HIT Policy Committee meeting. Outlined by Paul Tang, M.D., vice chair of the committee and chair of its Meaningful Use Workgroup, the measures generally seek to increase thresholds established in Stage 1 as they climb to a Stage 3 apex.
Blumenthal Suggests Different Paths to MU
Rather than requiring all eligible providers and hospitals fill out what is generally the same checklist for Meaningful Use, organizations which prove they are achieving outcomes far beyond the norm could qualify right off the bat, suggested National Coordinator for Healthcare IT David Blumenthal, M.D., at the October HIT Policy Committee meeting. While the former […]
DARPA for Healthcare: An EMR Shootout
Building on a recent post about Peter Orszag’s resignation, and stimulus funding for healthcare IT…As long as we’re throwing money around by the billions… If I were Dr. Blumenthal, I’d dangle $500M ala DARPA in front of Amazon, Google, Nintendo, Facebook, salesforce, eBay– or any other capable body– and sponsor a shoot out: Build an inpatient/outpatient EMR and financial management system that will rock our world.
Flexibility Embraced in Final MU Regs
The final Meaningful Use regulations issued today by the Department of Health and Human Services jettison a proposed all-or-nothing program in favor of a more flexible approach. According to the HITECH Act — part of the massive American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 — healthcare providers and hospitals are eligible for stimulus monies if they become meaningful users of certified electronic health record (EHR) technology. The program — which offers eligible professionals up to $44,000 under Medicare and $63,750 under Medicaid, and hospitals millions — has been developed by HHS/CMS and ONC over the last 14 months. Based on how many providers quality, the federal tab could range from $9.7 to $27.4 billion, according to CMS.
Peter Orszag’s Resignation: Why CIOs Should Care
Before I levy my criticisms on Orszag and the mess that his philosophies will leave behind for healthcare CIOs, you need to understand that I’m as politically liberal as they come. I voted for Obama and celebrated in Grant Park when he was elected. However, while I’m a spendthrift with my money, I’m a tightwad […]
HIT Safety Must Take Center Stage
Psychologists say people don’t research problems to find solutions, but rather to support the solution they’ve already decided upon. To cite a recent political example, many said the Bush administration “cherry picked” intelligence to foster support for a war it was already committed to. In addition to the selection side, this type of analysis entails […]
PODCAST: One-on-One w/Methodist CIO Pam McNutt
Earlier this week, Pamela McNutt, SVP and CIO of Methodist Health System in Dallas, gave a presentation entitled “Meeting Stage 1 Meaningful Use: A View from a Healthcare System,” at the AHA’s Annual Membership Meeting in Washington, D.C. McNutt — chair of CHIME’s Policy Steering Committee and former chair of the organization’s Advocacy Leadership Team […]
Have We Reached a Tipping Point With HIEs?
News related to the exchange of health information and the entities that facilitate that exchange continue to dominate the headlines. And for good reason. Access to a comprehensive view of a patient’s health information across encounters and providers is widely seen as one of the most important contributors to the Obama administration’s goals of improving […]
ONC Awards $60 Million in SHARP Grants
As part of its Strategic Health IT Advanced Research Projects (SHARP) program to promote innovation, ONC has awarded four organizations a total of $60 million — Mayo Clinic of Medicine, Harvard University, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Each institution’s research projects “will identify short-term and long-term […]
Chatting with the National Coordinator for Health IT
I had a brief chat with Dr. David Blumenthal last week that basically covered four areas: Transparency at the ONC; HITREC and communities of shared learning; Personal Health Records and possible certification; Rural practices and Critical Access Hospitals. Regarding transparency, which is something I’m fairly passionate about and have seen some improvements on at the ONC, Dr. Blumenthal said, “Trust is such an important factor in the management of sensitive information that it has to be attended to in everything we do. I think that being open is one way to create trust.”